A successful week for the PRE horses at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions

By Lily Forado

At the premises of Lamplight Equestrian Center, hosting 175 combinations, the fourteenth national championship for the 2020 US Dressage Festival of Champions was held August 18th through the 23rd  The Festival of Champions also known as the United States Youth Championship, brought together the best riders in the country to fight for the coveted national title

On Monday afternoon, the week kicked off with all horses passing the initial veterinary inspection for the Intermediate I USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship

The competition requires the riders to run three tests in their quest for the national championship: Intermediate II 40 percent, Grand Prix 16-25 45 percent, and Freestyle U25 15 percent

Seven horse-and-rider combinations completed their FEI Intermediate II including Kerrigan Gluch and Hampton Green Farm’s 13-year-old PRE stallion, Vaquero HGF Cuatrero IV x Encina HGF, finished in second place with a score of 68147% A day later, Kerrigan on her mount Vaquero HGF turned in a clean and polished ride to finish first in the class with a 68744% Gluch and Vaquero HGF were currently second in the Brentina Cup overall standings Everything seemed favorable to fight for the gold position, but on the freestyle, Vaquero felt very fresh  In the end, Kerrigan Gluch and Vaquero HGF took home the reserve championship They earned third place for their freestyle performance, with a score of 68425%

Partners for five years, Kerrigan Gluch and Vaquero HGF have been an unbreakable combination with a resume full of podiums Since 2015, both have ridden in American and European shows with very competitive scores and placed in top positions

Children's Division Twelve combinations took the Grand Prix Arena for the FEI Children Team Test and Individual Test of the USEF Children Dressage National Championship

Lentisco XVIII Zafiro XIV x Estupenda II under the reins of Justine Boyer went from less to more With an average of 69500%, Justine and Lentisco  XVIII closed in the top 5, while in the individual test,  they earned the third position with a remarkable 72810% Skimming the podium, the American rider placed fourth overall

The youngest equine competitors of the show fought for the USEF Markel title Thirteen horse-and-rider pairs completed the FEI Six-Year-Old category  PRE horse Hermes BRH Trajano IV x Revoltosa LXXXVIII ridden by Stacey Hastings received a 75600% in the six-year preliminary and 72200% in the six-year final

[caption id="attachment_24838" align="alignnone" width="980"] Kerrigan Gluch and Vaquero HGF[/caption] [caption id="attachment_24837" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Justine Boyer and Lentisco XVII[/caption] [caption id="attachment_24839" align="alignnone" width="674"] Stacey Hastings and Hermes BRH[/caption]